Appendix May Have Important Function, New Research Suggests

[lollipop]

Appendix may have important function, new research suggests

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170109162333.htm

I actually suspect this to be true of every aspect of the human system. Current understanding of an organ or part might be incomplete leading to the belief it has no important "role".

 

[Tarmander]

Cool article.

I always thought it was a little ridiculous when doctors would claim that this thing was useless but did not actually know what its use was. "We do not know what it does, nor can we find anything, so it must have no use...snip snip."

 

[Dante]

"useful gut bacteria" - i guess there is no such thing for a lot of people on this forum

 

[lollipop]

Cool article.

I always thought it was a little ridiculous when doctors would claim that this thing was useless but did not actually know what its use was. "We do not know what it does, nor can we find anything, so it must have no use...snip snip."

Right?!?! I could never wrap my head around it.

 

[lollipop]

"useful gut bacteria" - i guess there is no such thing for a lot of people on this forum

Not sure Dante. Other researchers found it important in immune function (saw this maybe 6 months ago and did not save reference, excuse me). A gut overrun with endotoxins might need a temporary boost of favorable bacteria to overcome a crisis situation? I think the gut and microbiome still need much more understanding than currently available.

 

[Dante]

Not sure Dante. Other researchers found it important in immune function (saw this maybe 6 months ago and did not save reference, excuse me). A gut overrun with endotoxins might need a temporary boost of favorable bacteria to overcome a crisis situation? I think the gut and microbiome still need much more understanding than currently available.

No i believe it, when doxycycline tore my gut apart ,vsl#3 saved me , i talked about "people".
vsl 3 - PubMed - NCBI

 

[Tarmander]

"useful gut bacteria" - i guess there is no such thing for a lot of people on this forum

I have seen a large variety of reactions to probiotics and antibiotics. There are people who have been on probiotics for years, and continue to have problems. There are people who I have seen probiotics change their life literally overnight for the better. Same can be said for antibiotics and antibiotic substances. Very individual.

 

[lollipop]

No i believe it, when doxycycline tore my gut apart ,vsl#3 saved me , i talked about "people".
vsl 3 - PubMed - NCBI

Makes sense. I find the topic super interesting to follow and keep my eye on

And @Tarmander's thoughts about it being highly individual has been my experience as well, even in my own personal life worked sometimes and other times totally did nothing...soooo strange.

 

[Peater Piper]

I've heard of the appendix being a reservoir for "good" bacteria before. I think broad spectrum antibiotics may have rendered this function mostly useless, or at least impacted its significance.

 

[WestCoaster]

I've also heard this before too, and if I'm not mistaken, it was B12 or something that was housed inside the appendix. I may be way off the mark on this one but there is a connection with B12 and the appendix.

 

[Mito]

Appendix may have important function, new research suggests

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170109162333.htm

I actually suspect this to be true of every aspect of the human system. Current understanding of an organ or part might be incomplete leading to the belief it has no important "role".

I read a similar article a few months ago.

"Removal of the appendix may reduce the amount of melatonin produced by your digestive system."
Your Appendix, Not as Useless as You Were Misled to Believe

 

[Giraffe]

In a paper published in 1910 the author describes the appendix as full of lymphoid tissue, and its purpose is to protect the body against the microorganisms in the ileocaecal region. He sees the appendix as the terminal part of the caecum, and he describes structural changes that occur during growing/aging and due to inflammation. He thinks that inflammation and fibrosis lead to the disappearance of lymphoid follicles and impairment of muscular action: the appendix consequently becomes an inert breeding ground for microorganisms.

Fluid or semifluid material is passed from the small intestine through the ileocaecal valve into the caecum. The latter is not adapted for the carriage of fluid by peristalsis; it is too large and thin walled to contract efficiently, unless it is tightly distended like the bulb of a Higginson's syringe. In addition, in man, gravity works against it. As a result the faeces must remain in the caecum until the absorption of water from them and the addition of mucus to them have rendered them of the proper consistency for their transit along the large intestine. Hence, it is easy to understand why the caecum is so often the most capacious part of the large bowel, and why at operations, particularly for intestinal obstruction, surgeons so frequently find it distended out of all proportion to the rest of the alimentary canal, the bowels being full of fluid.

To turn to the pathological significance of this halt, pause, or rest, it will be seen at once that the caecum is the breeding ground of bacteria, par excellence, of all parts of our intestine. The enumerations of the colonies from different parts of the alimentary tract bear this out, and have proved that colonies of bacteria are more frequent by hundreds and thousands here than in any other part of the intestinal tract, even after a period of starvation. [...] It is now very easy to understand why nature has established so large a storehouse of protective lymphoid tissue for the production of leucocytes in the ileocaecal region, to which the appendix is an intestinal " tonsil," an index of the fermentative processes which are going on within the caecum, a culture tube for the bacteria therein contained. Hence the very great frequency of its inflammation--appendicitis. It will now be seen that there is strife between the microorganisms and lymphoid tissue in the caeca of every one. Hence the gradual disappearance of the lymphoid tissue as age advances.

The full text is worth a read.

 

[schultz]

"useful gut bacteria" - i guess there is no such thing for a lot of people on this forum

I wouldn't say that. Ray has mentioned the importance of being exposed to bacteria for the immune system. He even has stated that endotoxin is important - albeit in small amounts - and talked favorably about it,

[Andrew is talking about endotoxin]
Andrew: As an aside, do you know if there is a value, picogram or whatever value, associated to "acceptable level"?

Ray: Yeah, it stimulates defense reactions and so it's kind of like a toughening up reaction to have a small amount of it. If you're born in a germ-free environment, your first exposure to bacteria is likely to be lethal, but absorbing a little bit of the endotoxin toughens up the system.

He has talked about germ-free animals living longer, but this was to make a point. He never said we should try and be germ-free.

 

[lollipop]

In a paper published in 1910 the author describes the appendix as full of lymphoid tissue, and its purpose is to protect the body against the microorganisms in the ileocaecal region. He sees the appendix as the terminal part of the caecum, and he describes structural changes that occur during growing/aging and due to inflammation. He thinks that inflammation and fibrosis lead to the disappearance of lymphoid follicles and impairment of muscular action: the appendix consequently becomes an inert breeding ground for microorganisms.





The full text is worth a read.

Fascinating @Giraffe! Thank you for posting. Will definitely read...